This invention relates generally to image projectors, and more particularly, to modifying projected images.
Portable digital image projectors are common. Such digital image projectors, while connected to a personal computer or other image/video source, sit on a surface and are directed at a projection surface to show a “slide” presentation or a video presentation. Many of these projectors use transmissive or reflective liquid crystal displays, and typically only have a single main lens. Other such projectors use different imaging devices, such as digital micro-mirrors, and may include more than one lens. The projectors can display images one at the time or as a sequence of images, as in the case of video.
These digital projectors are typically designed so that undistorted rectangular images are projected on the projection surface when the projector is placed horizontally on a level support surface with the projector's optical axis lined up perpendicular to the projection surface. However, if the alignment and orientation is modified, then the resulting image on the projection surface may be distorted. In many cases the image will appear as a trapezoid, and in other cases an arbitrarily shaped quadrilateral. The non-rectangular shape of the resulting projected image is referred to as keystoning.
One technique to adjust for keystoning is to tediously adjust the physical position of the projector by moving it around, tilting and rotating it, until a near rectangular image is displayed. However, in many situations, it may not be feasible to sufficiently physically adjust the position of the projector. For example, the projector may need to be positioned above or below the display surface for proper image presentation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,357, entitled “Keystoning and focus correction for an overhead projector,” describes a system where a test slide is displayed. A user then identifies line pairs that appear to be parallel to each other. The user identified line pair activates a distortion correction program that uses the oblique angle between the horizontal plane through the projector and the viewing screen. This is a burdensome task for a user to correctly perform.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,046, entitled “Method for pre-compensating an asymmetrical picture in a projection system for displaying a picture,” describe a system where the projection angle, and the trapezoidal error, is compensated for by the user entering positional information into the system via a keyboard. The determination and inputting of positional information is difficult and burdensome for the user.
United States Patent Publication 2002/0021418 A1, entitled “Automatic Keystone Correction For Projectors With Arbitrary Orientation”, describes a projection system that includes a pair of tilt sensors and a camera. The system using data from the tilt sensors and the camera warps the projected image to display an image that is rectangular. Unfortunately, the tilt sensors tend to be expensive and the system requires complex re-calibration when the projector lens moves, e.g., when the projector is zoomed and/or focused. This inherent complexity increases the expense of the resulting projector.